Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's Up, Broncos Country. Welcome back to the Broncos podcast
(00:02):
network and YouTube for the latest episode of Broncos Now.
As always, I'm your host is Sidney Jones, and coming
up on today's episode, the Broncos first week of OTA
practices is in the books. We'll hear today from head
coach Sean Payne and several players. All that more I
mean up Broncos. The first week of OTA's is complete.
(00:24):
Today's practice was open to the media and following it,
we're from head coach Sean Payn as he detailed how
the first week went.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
There's always that transition the first week the rookies will
come in, they'll lift separately, and then you know that
second week there's that transition period where you know they're
in with the ninety one. But I thought overall, the
week went well and we tried to and this is
(00:51):
important for everyone. We try to split up all the reps,
so there's going to be a time where you read
into the reps. I don't think it's early in OTAs.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Plush On went on to talk about how we approaches
the quarterback competition between Jared Sidham, Zach Wilson, and Bow Nicks.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
We had it in New Orleans after Drew left with
and with Well it was with Teddy and Taysom. Look,
we we we go by what we see. We try
to get him as many reps as possible. We rotate.
We're rotating all of them right now, you know, So Monday, Tuesday,
(01:30):
excuse me, you know, Steady ran with the ones and
then Zack and then and then Bow and we'll keep
doing that right now.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Plus, we also heard from quarterbacks Zach Wilson and Jared
Stidham today and they also talked about how the quarterback
competition is going so far.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Personally, I think competition brings out the best in anybody.
You know, I look forward to what we have. You know,
I appreciate the ownership and from the top down, you know,
just for the opportunity to be here to compete. I
think it brings out the best everybody.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yeah, it's been and it's been fun. It's been exciting,
you know, having having two new guys in the room.
This is the first time I've been to vet in
the room, so that's been that's been fun and exciting.
But yeah, I mean this is a business. I understand
how this thing goes, but it's been it's been fun
to compete and that's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Today was also the first time we saw some of
the new veterans on the field and the guys the
Broncos signed in a free agency and we heard specifically
from safety of Brandon Jones and wide receiver Josh Reynolds
after practice and they both talked about how they've adjusted
to Denver and what the transition has been like.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
I think, I think trying to trying to figure out
the plays, but I mean, at this point, you know,
kind of been been been at a couple of teams,
so a lot of it kind of carries over and
then uh, you know, i'd say the altitude, you know,
that's been a little tough.
Speaker 6 (02:44):
I'm always looking up for growth in every aspect of
my game, whether it's blitzing man coverage, you know, playing
high anything, just trying to prove to everybody my teammates
that I could do kind of do whatever I need
to whatever I need to do, whatever the coaches need
me to do.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Now, joining me here inside the Broncos podcast studio is
Broncos lead writer Eric Dala. Eric, thanks for joining me.
First full week of OTA practice in the books.
Speaker 7 (03:08):
Yeah, nice to get out there and watch the Vets
and the rookies practice side by side, get another taste
of football. Said a couple more weeks OTAs to go
mini camp and then training can.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Will be here before now. It's crazy. I know you
can't go into too many details, Eric, but what'd you
think of practice today?
Speaker 6 (03:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (03:26):
I thought one of the guys that stood out to
me was Lucas Kroll. He made several nice plays, nice
catches in traffic. Sean Payton after practice said that he
went up to Kroll toward the end and said the
media is all look in at their roster right now
and looking up who's eighty five and said it won't
be long before people know that name. Obviously, the Broncos
(03:49):
need somebody to emerge at that tight end position as
a little bit more of a contributor than they've had
in recent years. Greg Dolcich was on the side field
today and Sean Payton said he's close to returning to practice.
It's going to be sooner rather than later. But obviously
they want to be smart. They don't want to rush
him back, but with kind of injury issues that Dulsich
has faced Lucas Croll did get an opportunity toward the
(04:11):
end of last season. Scored a touchdown late in the year,
I believe in that New England game as the Broncos
tried to come back. Yeah, obviously got some targets late
in the year, so he was a guy that stood out.
I think if you're looking at just top individual days,
and then of course said that the quarterbacks spanned out
every time that we're able to watch quarterback composition. This
year is going to be no different. Bow Knicks did
(04:34):
get the first team reps on this Thursday. John Payton said,
don't pay too much attention yet to reps. There will
be a point where you can pay attention to those
and who's going first, who's going second, he said early
in OTA's especially the first week, is not that time.
He did share with us. I think to make that
point that Jared Stidham got the first team reps on
Tuesday during OTA's, Zach Wilson got him on Wednesday. Bo
(04:56):
Nicks got him on Thursday. Obviously, Tuesday and Wednesday not
open to the media, so we're not able to kind
of tell how they how they performed. I would say
that it is a little bit notable just that it
is this open competition and sometimes early on you see
just the veteran get those first team reps, or maybe
(05:17):
you know, it would have been understandable if just Jared
Stidham and Zach Wilson we're getting those reps. But I
do think it's notable that they're spreading them out equally.
They want everybody to get the same number of reps,
and I think that goes back to what Peyton Manning
mentioned on Wednesday Night, said he was asked about, hey,
rookie quarterback, should they play right away? Should they not?
Peyton obviously played his whole rookie season through twenty eight
(05:40):
interceptions or a record that still stands that he wants
broken by somebody not named Bo Nicks. And then you
look at a guy like Patrick Mahomes. He sat his
whole first year, then the next year obviously started this
stretch that he's on that Broncos fans probably can't wait
for it to be over. Yeah, but John Peyton talked
about from a key standpoint, it's more about is there
(06:01):
a veteran in front of them that's an established guy.
He pointed to Green Bay kind of the same way
he did at owners meetings, and so I thought that
was meaningful just in terms of it feels like if
Bo is ready to play, and obviously we're a long
way from the regular season, but if if Bo's ready
to play, he'll get a chance to play, and if
he wins the job, we'll get a chance to play.
(06:22):
It doesn't sound like no matter what sean, it feels
like a rookie needs to sit, and so that is
noticeable or a notable rather and the fact that they
split first team reps that stood out to me.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Absolutely. We also heard today from Jared Sidham and Zach Wilson,
first time we've heard from Zach Wilson, first time he
met the media since he was traded here. They both
talked about the quarterback competitions and you know, competition is healthy.
So that was great to hear just from them. We
haven't heard from them in a while.
Speaker 7 (06:49):
Eric, Yeah, and I think one thing that stood out
from each of them. For Stidham, it's that he's really
comfortable in this system compared to a year ago. That's
if you think about an advantage that he has over
Bownicks over Zach Wilson. It's how comfortable he is. He's
been in this offense for a full year. When he
met the media at the end of last season said
he said, hey, I'm going to be ready to go
(07:10):
in April because it's all going to be the same.
Nothing's gonna have changed, same coaching staff, same playbook. And
I think that's where his benefit is just getting the
ball out quick. He's got a little bit more experience
in terms of years in the league. And he said, listen,
I understand why they drafted Bonix, why they traded for
Zach Wilson. It's a business. They're always looking to get better.
(07:30):
But he's not just gonna sit down, lay down and
kind of give up this job. He's ready to compete,
ready to fight for it. I think that's the right
attitude if you're Jared Stidham to have. And then from
Zach Wilson's standpoint, he just talked about the need to
be consistent every day in terms of knowing the playbook,
making the throws, leading the offense. I think we all
know and you could see on Thursday the arm talent
(07:53):
that Zach Wilson has. I mean, he made some throws
where you're like, WHOA, that's an impressive throw. For him,
it's can you be consistent? Can you avoid the mistakes?
He mentioned that avoiding turnovers, and so the fact that
I asked him, Hey, what's the key for you? And
sometimes guys kind of him and Haw they avoid those
direct answers and say, oh, I want to focus on everything.
(08:14):
He was pretty direct. I've got to avoid turnovers. I've
got to be consistent. I've got to know this playbook
every single day. That stood out to me from him.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, and for him too, this is just a fresh
start and I think that's going to be huge for him.
And he even spoke about that too, like has a
lot of wonderful memories from New York and the Jets,
but this is, you know, what he needs now in
his career.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
Yeah, and you know, we heard Peyton Manning talk about
it on Wednesday night again that Sean Payton is a
great coach, has a great system for quarterbacks to come into.
Peyton joked that it's a system he'd want to play
in himself, and it can be a great second chance
for Zach. It's clear that you know, he's not leaving
that experience behind. There's certain things you take with you.
(08:54):
But for him, it does seem like, based on all
the reports and even what he said today that just
having a clear slate is important and now these quarterbacks,
all of them have to go out and prove it.
Seohn Payton said, they're kind of like orphaned dogs in
terms of, you know, just having to find a new
(09:14):
home or kind of prove themselves after it didn't work
out in a previous spot. Obviously, Jared Sidams played different places,
Zach Wilson. We know bo Nix had to transfer from
Auburn to Oregon. So they've all gone through a bit
of adversity and now it's how do they respond and
who can win the job?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, absolutely, it would be fun to watch that play out. Eric,
and then we saw some of the new veterans out
on the field for the first time today, some of
the new guys coming in from free agency, Brandon Jones,
Lebi Wallace, Josh Reynolds. We heard from Brandon Jones and
Josh Reynolds afterwards too. Where were kind of takeaway from that?
Speaker 7 (09:46):
Yeah, I think they both have interesting experiences, vantage points,
whatever you want to call it, in that they joined
their last teams Miami and Brandon Jones's case Detroit and
Josh Reynolds's case, they were in this kind of same
place that Denver is right now in terms of trying
to take that next step and build a program back up.
(10:08):
And obviously both teams were able to do that to
various degrees. Right Detroit went to the NFC Championship game,
had a lead, almost went to the Super Bowl. Miami
didn't have as much success in the playoffs, but obviously
we saw what they were able to do offensively, in
particular kind of some of the defensive stuff late in
the year. So they both have that perspective of what
it takes. And I think when you've got that mix
(10:31):
of young talent which the Broncos are trying to build
up through these last couple of draft classes, and then
the right veteran additions that know what it takes. And
I think that goes back to guys like a Mike mcglinchy,
for example, like a Zach Allen. That's the right puzzle
pieces fitting together. And so when I think back on
(10:51):
what Josh Reynolds and Brandon Jones had to say, that
stood out to me just in terms of they know
what it takes to help a program take the next step,
and hopefully they can do that in Denver for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, well only the first week of OTA's Eric, what
are you hoping to see just over the next couple
of weeks, as you know, mandatory mini camp is only
in three weeks.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
Yeah, I think, especially at the quarterback position, just take
steps forward. Yeah, you know, it was notable during seven
on seven the Broncas were efficient quick. I think only
two passes hit the ground that whole period. Team there
were some impressive throws here and there. I think, especially
with bo Nix, when you are playing with the first
team rather than the second or third team, things are
(11:30):
going to go a little bit faster. The defense you're
going against is obviously better. It's it's ones on ones
right now, and so I thought he still made some
impressive throws on Thursday, but there were definitely some areas
to clean up, you know, get the ball out fast,
avoid pressure. So, whether it's bo Zach Jarrett when it's
their turn with the ones, and you know, mini camp
(11:51):
should be an example. If they continue this rotation, we'll see,
but where you'd get to see three consecutive days of
one guy with the ones and the next guy then,
and kind of having apples to apples comparison to look at.
But that'll really stand out to me. Just how do
these quarterbacks continue to progress, especially Bo who is just
a couple weeks into this thing. And Sean Payton did
(12:13):
give him some nice praise there. He said he's picking
it up a lot faster than most rookie quarterbacks would
and that he's looked good. But again, progress is the
name of the game, and we're still a long way
away from September eighth, but it is every day we
got a little bit closer, and so these reps matter
and I'll be excited next week following week in mini
(12:34):
camp to see how do the quarterbacks do? I mean
right now, said me too. It's all about the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
It is, of course. Oric appreciate you joining the show today.
You got it, said, let's going to do it for
this week's episode of Broncos Now Broncos Country. Thanks so
much for tuning in. I'll meet you right back here
on the Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube for another episode
next time. I'll see you then,